


Life At Xavier's Mansion

by akwardcadabra



Category: X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Arguing, Beach Divorce Fix-It, Crying, Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Mild Language, Minor Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Platonic Cuddling, Post Beach Divorce, Post X-Men: First Class, Post-Cuba, Pre-Cuba, Romance, Team as Family, X-Men: First Class (2011), movie quotes, please read the note
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-22
Updated: 2019-03-22
Packaged: 2019-11-27 23:37:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18200537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akwardcadabra/pseuds/akwardcadabra
Summary: After bonding and becoming close to each other, the events on the beach in Cuba tear the first class apart. Erik leaves, not even trusting Charles and Hank to treat the gunshot wound that he sustained when taking a bullet for the telepath. Raven leaves with him. Alex and Sean are in the draft. Charles' dreams are torn apart.Then almost a year later Erik shows up again, willing to do things Charles' way if it helps to protect mutants.





	1. Suspended animation, a state of bliss

**Author's Note:**

> **Please read this note**
> 
> I decided to repost the series as a story with multiple chapters because it works better that way. Originally I thought that each of the works could be read separately but I realised they are better as a multiple chapter work. Also, I didn't want to completely spam the tags. Sorry for the re-structuring and if it evoked confusion or anything.
> 
> Just a sort of "Fix-It Fic" since I don't want to accept the events that followed X-Men: First class. It'll mostly focus on the emotional journey and not as much on fighting or anything like that. Parts of this series will take place before the events on Cuba and parts of it after. It is not completely canon compliant obviously.
> 
> I don't own any of the characters or the movies they are from. The title of this chapter is from Pink Floyd's "Learning to Fly".
> 
> Enjoy ^^

“You need the sound waves to be supersonic. Catch them at the right angle and they should carry you.” Hank said clearly and Sean swallowed.

“And they should carry me.” The ginger repeated, trying to mask his fear with humour, “That’s reassuring.”

Alex bit his lip lightly as he watched Sean cross himself. The blond swallowed, as Charles and Hank retreated from the window to give Sean a little space. The ginger pressed off the building and let himself fall, emitting a little screech, which was definitely not loud enough to produce a sonic scream.

He plummeted down into the bushes below, as Charles rushed to the window and asked if he was alright. Alex, however, didn’t hear it anymore, because he had already left the window, he had been watching from, and was not rushing downstairs and outside to help Sean.

When he made it through the door, he heard Raven and Erik laugh lightly as Sean pushed himself onto his feet and threatened Hank and Charles. The latter was now promising to come downstairs and check on Sean.

Alex, however, was already there and rushed over to Sean. “Are you alright?”

Sean nodded lightly and brushed the leaves off his clothes. “Yes, I’m alright.” He mumbled. His heart skipped a beat, as Alex rubbed his upper arm in a comforting gesture. “I’m fine, really.” He assured the blond.

Alex nodded and smiled lightly. “That’s good. Shall we go to your room? We could relax a little.”

“Yeah, I guess. But I have to get the suit off first.” He mumbled, as Charles burst through the door and looked Sean up and down.

“Are you sure you’re not hurt?”

“No.” Sean smiled lightly. “Just pissed off that it didn’t work and that you made me jump.”

“But you did fairly well.” Alex smiled, rubbing Sean’s upper back. “I mean you held your arms in the right position.”

“He still didn’t fly.” Hank muttered as he walked outside, walking up to Sean. The ginger stretched his arm and Hank started to undo the straps that secured the wings of the suit at his wrists.

“He tried his best.” Alex defended the other boy. “Maybe it was because of the suit you designed.”

“No, it was because he wasn’t emitting a sonic scream.” Hank explained. “If we try to let him jump from higher up, he will have enough time to scream loud enough.”

“What?” Alex snapped. “No way! How far up? Wasn’t jumping out of a window enough?”

“No, not enough to lift him up with the sonic scream.” Hank explained. “Alex, I know that you are concerned and worried, but he will surely be fine.” With that, he rolled the wings up and nodded at Sean.

“What would be high enough?” Alex asked, his voice thick with anger and Sean felt himself blush at his boyfriend’s protectiveness.

“Alex, I’ll be fine. Right, Charles? I trust you.” He mumbled and Charles nodded reassuringly. “See? Charles says that it’ll be alright.” The ginger smiled wearily.

“I don’t give a damn about Charles’ opinion on this!” Alex snapped. “No offence Charles, but I will not let you push Sean of something higher than the window! What would you even use?”

Sean, now free of the wingsuit, put a hand on Alex’s back to calm him, as Hank spoke up. “Maybe the satellite dish?” He mused.

“Are you completely fucking insane?” Alex yelled at the top of his lungs. “The satellite dish, he says! He wants to throw my boyfriend off the fucking satellite dish!”

“Alex.” Sean said softly. “Calm down. I-”

“How?” Alex snapped but quickly stopped as he saw Sean wince. “I’m sorry, baby. I just- I’m so worried. I will not let Hank do that to you.”

“Alex, Sean will be fine.” Charles said softly. “You two go to your room and calm down, while Hank and I talk this through. And I can assure you that, if I let Sean do this, it will not end up hurting him. I would never hurt any of you.”

“Alright, I guess.” Alex mumbled, obviously still very enraged about Hank’s suggestion. “We’ll get back to you later.”

“Yes, you take the afternoon off to calm down, alright? And make sure Sean saves his voice for tomorrow, yes?” Charles smiled. “I’ll call you down when dinner’s ready.”

“Thanks.” Sean smiled and took Alex’s hand. “Let’s go upstairs and just relax.”

“Alright.” Alex sighed and let Sean lead him inside. Charles watched them with a smile, glad to see that Sean was able to calm his boyfriend down.

The brunet then turned to Hank. “And we’ll have a talk about your idea now. I know that you think it’ll work, but we need to make sure Sean is ready. I really love these kids and I don’t want them to hurt.”

“Yes, of course. Let’s go down into the lab and I’ll show you, how it will work.” Hank nodded and Charles followed him inside.

\---

Later that afternoon, Alex and Sean were lying on the ginger’s bed, while his head rested on his boyfriend's chest and he was tracing little pattern into said boy’s chest.

“I trust Charles.” Sean said softly, out of the blue.

“I know.” Alex sighed. “But I don’t trust Hank. It’s nothing personal, but it didn’t work today. And I’m so scared for you.”

“I know.” The ginger whispered and nuzzled Alex’s neck. “But if Charles says that I’ll be fine, then I will. You don’t have to worry.”

“I hope you’re right.” He whispered and took his hand off Sean’s shoulder to twirl the fabric of the blanket between his fingers. “Maybe you could wear something metal and if you really don’t manage to fly, Erik could probably lift you up.”

“I could ask him.” Sean said and pressed his finger into Alex’s chest. “Now keep curling your fingers against my arm.” He ordered and heard Alex chuckle, which sent his chest rumbling and vibrating under the ginger’s ear.

“Yes, sorry.” Alex chuckled and resumed his task from before. “Hey, Sean. Can I tell you something?”

“You can tell me anything.” Sean whispered, looking up at his boyfriend. “Are you okay? Is something wrong?”

“No, I just- I don’t know if this is the right time to say this, but I-” Before he could finish, the door opened a crack.

“Sean? Alex?” It was Charles. “Dinner is about ready. Will you come downstairs? Hank and I talked, by the way. I’ll tell you over dinner, yes?”

“Sure, we’ll be down in a second.” Sean smiled and Charles left. The ginger looked back up at Alex. “What were you about to say?”

“Nothing too important. I’ll tell you later.” He mumbled and slowly rose off the bed. “Let’s go downstairs.”

\---

When the next morning approached, Sean was crudely awoken by Hank, who wanted to prepare him. After they had a quick breakfast and a few minutes of getting ready, the rest of the morning was spent in the lab, where Hank helped Sean into the wings. All the while Alex was carefully watching them, making sure that Sean was well and safely strapped in. When they were done, Charles came inside.

“Is he ready?” He asked softly. “Erik wants to come and see, as well.”

“What about Raven?” Hank asked.

“As much as I know, you’d enjoy showing off your wings to her, she wants to do some training on her own.” The brunet teased and Hank blushed, before rolling his eyes gently.

“He should be able to fly with no problems.” Hank said confidently.

“I hope so.” Alex grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. “Also, I hope it for your sake, too.”

“Alex.” Sean cooed and walked over to hug his boyfriend gently. “If Charles trusts Hank, so do I. I trust Charles.”

“And I would never betray that trust.” Charles smiled softly. “Now come along, yes?”

“I do trust Charles, too.” Alex said, leaning into Sean’s embrace. “I just don’t trust Hank after it didn’t work yesterday.”

“It’s because he wasn’t up high enough. Look at it like this: a parachute won’t open, if you aren’t up high enough, too.” Hank explained.

“That actually kind of makes sense.” Alex grumbled. “Oh, Sean. I wanted to tell you something before we go. I-”

Erik burst in at that moment. “Are you ready?” He asked softly.

“Yes.” Hank said cheerfully. “Let’s go!”

Alex sighed and nodded, taking Sean’s hand and holding it tightly on their way to the satellite dish. Charles kept walking behind him and Alex with Erik and tried to comfort and encourage them on their way. Hank meanwhile led the way.

\---

“I’m gonna die!” Sean exclaimed, motioning to the long drop in front of him, while everyone else stood behind him.

“Look we’re not gonna make you do anything you don’t feel comfortable with, alright?” Charles said softly, putting a comforting hand on Sean’s arm.

“Sean, baby, if you don’t want to do this-” Alex began, but before he could finish, Erik interrupted him.

“Here let me help.” He said quickly before reaching behind the ginger and pushing him off the satellite dish.

Alex felt as if his heart just stopped. Everything started happening too quickly. He heard Charles scream out Erik’s name in a scolding manner. Said man simply crossed his arms, while Charles and Hank looked over the rails before the first man was pushed back and away from the edge by Alex, as he looked down at his boyfriend in sheer panic.

“Sean, scream! Please, baby, scream!” He yelled at the top of his lungs and Sean did as he was told –even though Alex was sure, Sean had done it on his own accord, because he was most likely not even able to hear his boyfriend.

Alex felt lightheaded with relief when he saw that the suit was actually working, managing to make Sean fly. He cheered, as he heard his boyfriend scream in amusement.

“You’re doing it, Sean!” He exclaimed, clapping his hands happily.

“See? I helped.” Erik mumbled. “And Charles, you were thinking the same thing.”

Alex turned on his heal, hearing Hank say something about Erik having messed up big time before the blond tried to tackle the other mutant to the floor. “You pushed my boyfriend off a satellite dish!” He screamed in anger, trying to hit Erik, who kept dodging his hits. “You fucking prick! I can’t believe you! He could have died! I thought Hank was bad for even coming up with this idea, but you are a whole new level of terrible and irresponsible!”

Charles reacted quickly and pulled Alex back. “Alex, calm your mind. Sean is fine. See? He’s-” He was interrupted by his own surprised yelp, as Sean managed to scramble into a landing on the satellite dish into Alex’s arms. “See? He’s fine.”

“Alex, I did it!” Sean laughed happily.

“You did.” Alex said, before embracing him tightly. “I was so scared.” He whispered. “So, so, so scared for you.”

“I’m fine, honey.” Sean said, still breathing heavily and Alex pulled back before peppering his cheeks with kisses. “Alex, I’m fine!” Sean laughed.

“I love you.” Alex blurted out before his eyes widened and he blushed. “See, I meant to tell you yesterday and earlier today, but we kept getting interrupted. But the fear of losing you, which I felt now, made me feel so sure of this sentiment. I love you.”

Sean broke into a smile, tears pricking in the corner of his eyes. “I love you, too.” He laughed and fell into Alex’s arms.

Charles smiled fondly. “That’s really sweet. Erik, do you remember when you told me you loved me for the first time. You nearly cried, too.”

“Charles.” Erik snapped softly. “Don’t tell them. They don’t even know about our relationship.”

“Trust me, we all know.” Hank chuckled. “We’ve known since you first got together.”

“Yes.” Sean said, his voice muffled against his boyfriend’s neck. “We know.”

“Oh.” Charles mumbled, blushing before he chuckled softly. “I guess we weren’t so good at hiding it after all. But Erik, to be serious, don’t do anything like this again.”

“Yes.” Erik said. “But it did help and it helped with their love confessions.” He chuckled.

Alex glared at him. “I swear, if you endanger Sean again, I’ll-”

“Alex, calm down.” Sean whispered, kissing his neck before pulling back. “Can we go back inside?”

“Yes, we should probably go inside and start lunch.” Hank said. “Come on then, let’s go.” He said and led the way to the ladder.

Erik followed. “Alex, I can literally feel your glare.” He said before Charles put a hand on his back and shushed him.

Alex sighed and followed both of them, Sean’s hand tightly in his own. “I’m glad you’re alright. I love you so much.”

Sean chuckled. “I love you, too.” He cooed before they all made their way down the ladder and started moving towards the mansion.

“Oh, Hank, do you think you could make a contraption so that I could fly with Sean?” Alex smiled. “It looks fun.”

“Now you trust me?” Hank laughed softly. “But yes I can do that.”

“Yes, now I’ve seen that Sean’s fine thanks to your wings. And I’ve seen that there are worse people. I’m looking at you, Erik.” He said a little jokingly.

Sean laughed softly and rubbed Alex’s back, while Erik laughed lightly and rolled his eyes, before looking towards them. “I’ll never live it down, will I?

“It happened ten minutes ago.” Sean chuckled and shook his head at his boyfriend’s softy glare and grabbed for his hand.


	2. So why can't you forgive me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a fight with Alex, Sean locks himself in his room. Charles feels obligated to do everything in his power to comfort the boy. Erik helps, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just the second part, re-uploaded as a chapter.
> 
> Title from "Anyone Else But You" by The Moldy Peaches.
> 
> I don't own the characters of the lyrics.  
> Enjoy ^^

“Charles?“ Erik asked softly, watching his boyfriend work from the door. “I need your help. Well, I am not the one with the need for your help, but I don’t know how to help that person.”

“What is it?” Charles asked warmly, turning to Erik.

“Sean just ran up into his room, crying and locked the door. I tried talking to him, but I think you’d be better at that.” The German man explained quickly. “I’m kind of worried. Would you check on him?”

“You’re warming up to the others.” Charles chuckled. “You’re going soft.”

“I am most definitely not.” Erik quickly said. “Just check on him.”

“I will.” The brunet exclaimed and quickly stood up. “You just wait here and I’ll call you if I need your help. I’ll keep you updated on what’s wrong.”

Erik merely nodded, as Charles took off into the direction of the large staircase. When he was upstairs, he walked up to Sean’s door and let his knuckles knock against it two to three times.

“Sean, are you alright?” He asked gently.

“Leave me alone!” The ginger snapped. “I just want to be alone!”

“But we’re worried about you. You don’t have to let me come inside, but I just want to know what happened and if I could help you.” Charles tried to bargain. “I worry about you.”

“Please, just leave me alone!” He heard Sean call from the inside.

The brunet sighed and turned from the door, before leaning against it. “Fine, I’ll give you space, but I will wait right outside the door if you need me.” He proclaimed, before sliding down the door and leaning against it. “I’m right here.”

Sean didn’t answer to that, but Charles could hear his sobbing and felt his chest clench. He didn’t want any of his friends to hurt like this, but he couldn’t help Sean if he wouldn’t open up. He briefly contemplated checking in on Sean’s thoughts, but decided against it; he had promised them all not to enter their minds uninvited.

‘Erik.’ He called out telepathically, raising his index and middle finger to his temple.

“Yes?” Erik asked out loud and Charles gave a sigh of relief.

‘Do you think you can find out what happened? Maybe ask Raven, Alex or Hank? Maybe he messed up during training and feels bad about it or something. Just ask them. If you can’t find out, it’s alright.’

“I will. I’ll let you know. I’ll call out to you.” Erik said and quickly left the study.

Suddenly, Charles heard the door unlock behind him and quickly turned, before scrambling to his feet. When it opened, it revealed a dishevelled Sean, his eyes red and puffy from crying, his cheeks tear-stained and his expression pained. Charles looked at him, before opening his mouth to say something. Sean was faster, however.

“Can we hug?” He whispered, looking down, his face heating up.

“Yes, of course.” Charles said softly and took a step forward, wrapping the boy tightly in his arms to which the ginger quickly clung to him, breaking down sobbing again.

Charles felt his heartbreak for the boy all over again, before quickly burying one of his hands in ginger hair and curling his fingers against his skin.

“It’s alright.” He said softly. “Whatever happened, it’ll all be fine. I promise.”

“Tighter.” Sean whimpered and Charles looked down at him.

“Tighter?” He questioned, but understood, when Sean held onto him tighter. “Won’t I hurt you?”

“Please.” Sean sobbed quickly. “Please.”

“Alright, alright.” Charles said quickly, pulling the boy to his chest tighter. “Do you want to sit down?” He felt Sean nod against his chest and started to awkwardly shuffle over to the boy’s bed, where he carefully arranged them into a sitting position. “Is this alright?”

Sean nodded again, clinging to Charles tightly. The man sighed sadly and continued to curl his fingers in the ginger’s hair, as he slowly started to rock back and forth, holding the boy in place with his free hand.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?”

Sean nodded his head and gasped for air quickly, before burying his face back against Charles’ chest.

“Then tell me. You can tell me anything.”

Sean shook his head and Charles looked down at him.

“How are we going to talk about it and fix it, if you won’t tell me, mh?” Charles hummed softly, resting his chin on Sean’s head. The boy just shrugged and Charles thought for a second. “May I look into your mind? I promise I will stop when I know what’s wrong.” He suggested and Sean nodded softly.

Charles took the hand out of Sean’s hair and put two fingers to his temple, before slowly closing his eyes, but never stopping his rocking.

‘Alex. Alex. Alex.’

It was the first thing that Charles heard and he wondered whether or not it something had happened between the two of them.

‘He hates me. Hates me. Hates me.’

Sean’s thoughts were incoherent and Charles had to concentrate to not lose the train of thoughts with Sean clinging to him. Then Charles found what he was looking for. The image related memories.

He took a deep breath, as he watched the scene in front of him unfold. It was a fight between Sean and Alex, but the only audio that the ginger’s mind played on repeat was ‘Why did I fall for you?’. Both of them had obviously fought and the sentence that Sean kept thinking about was probably something Alex had said to him.

Alex had asked why he ever fell for Sean. No wonder the boy was devastated and an emotional mess at the moment. Charles and Erik did fight, as well. Yet, they never said anything that would seriously upset each other this much.

“I know now.” Charles said softly. “Sean, fighting is normal in a relationship. What Alex said, was not alright, but I can assure you that he does not mean it.”

“He does.” Sean sobbed out. “And he fucking hates me. I was being way too clingy and pushy because I wanted him to pay attention to me and I was being so annoying. Of course, he is sick of me. Why wouldn’t he be?”

“Because he loves you.” Charles cooed. “He loves you so much. I can see it in all of his actions. I don’t even need telepathy for that. He loves you so endlessly. He cares for you and he knows that you do the same. He protects you and you do the same. You are always there for one another.”

“You think he’s not sick of me?” The ginger mumbled, finally looking up at Charles and calming down a little.

“Of course not.” Charles said softly, before slowly stroking the ginger’s locks. “Why would you ever think that, mh?”

“It was our first real fight.” Sean sighed, wiping his eyes, still feeling tears escaping from them. “I overreacted. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Your reactions are completely justified.” The brunet said, curling Sean’s hair around his fingers. “Just know that you can always ask me for help.”

“Thank you.” Sean whispered. “Can we maybe cuddle for a little longer? I need that right now. I’m sorry if I’m interrupting your work. You don’t have to stay.”

“No, of course, I’ll stay. You’re not interrupting anything.” He quickly explained, before gently pulling Sean’s head against his shoulder and tightly wrapping him into his arms, resuming the rocking motions.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. You just calm down and then you and Alex can talk this out. I will come with you if you need my help.” Charles suggested.

Sean nodded softly and closed his eyes, letting Charles lull him into a sense of comfort with his hair-stroking and rocking. Said man smiled happily, prideful of having calmed the ginger down.

‘Fight.’ Erik was practically screaming in his mind.

‘Erik, calm down. I know that they fought. Have you talked to someone? Was it Alex?’ Charles asked.

‘Yes, Alex and I talked. He’s coming upstairs to talk to Sean. Have you managed to calm him down?’

‘Yes, I’m holding him right now. I’ll give him a heads-up. When everything is settled, I’ll be in the living room, yes?’

‘Yes.’

“Sean.” Charles said softly. “Don’t freak out. But Alex is coming upstairs to talk about it. I can stay if you want me to.”

“Please.” Sean said desperately, “I’m scared. What if he breaks up with me or-”

“Break up?” Alex asked from the door. Sean and Charles turned their head to the door. Alex looked terrified. “Will you break up with me?”

“No, won’t you break up with me?” Sean whispered.

“Of course not! Sean, it was a fight and I’ve been hating myself for the past 30 minutes because of what I said to you.” Alex explained, coming closer. Charles realized he was still holding Sean tightly and quickly let go, moving away and putting a comforting hand on the ginger’s back.

“I’m sorry for being so clingy. I just had a hard day training and screwing up. All I wanted was to hug you a little bit.” Sean sighed. “But I should have just left you alone after you asked me to.”

“I should have listened to you instead of the music on my walkman. I was being a real asshole to you. And I’m really sorry.”

“I was being a clingy idiot. I’m sorry, too. And I’m sorry for literally clinging to you, while you tried to box.” He sighed, looking down. “Why is your hand bandaged?”

“I kind of punched the wall after seeing you run out on the verge of tears. Erik patched me up. He talked to me and helped me quite a lot. He told me to talk this through now and I guess, I just did.” Alex explained. “Next time you had a hard day and you need me to comfort you, tell me straight away. And if I’m not listening, pull the headphones off my head or push yourself between me and whatever I’m doing. I will gladly comfort you.”

“Alright.” Sean said, before slowly getting up and walking over to Alex, talking his injured hand with his frail fingers. Gingerly, he raised it to his lips and kissed the blonde’s knuckles. “Next time, don’t hurt yourself over a fight, please.”

“I can’t promise you that I won’t.” Alex chuckled softly. “I promise, I’ll try.” He quickly added and then went to hug Sean. The ginger smiled happily and hugged him back. “I love you, Sean.”

“I love you, too.” The boy responded. “Can we spend a little time together?”

“With my hand hurt, I don’t think, I’ll be boxing for one or two days anyway. I’ll gladly cuddle with you now.” The blond chuckled and kissed the ginger’s head.

“I like that idea.” Sean whispered, his demeanour much happier than before. Charles smiled fondly at the display in front of him.

“Did Charles’ cuddling manage to comfort you?” Alex chuckled and Sean blushed lightly.

“Hugs always calm me down. You should know that.” He laughed, poking Alex’s chest.

“I do know that.” He chuckled and smiled. “But we’d like some privacy now to cuddle if that's alright.”

Charles smiled and nodded. “Sure.”

With that, he got up and walked to the door, but not before hearing Alex call out for him in his mind. He stopped in the hallway, after closing the door and listened to what the blond was saying, while he was ushering Sean to the bed.

‘Thank you for taking care of Sean and calming him down after I was such an asshole to him.’

‘It’s nothing to thank me for. You’re my friends and I care about you. You made up now and that is all that matters. I’ll be downstairs if you need me.’

‘Thanks.’

With that, he walked downstairs to meet Erik, who was waiting at the bottom of the staircase. Charles smiled warmly and walked down, kissing his cheek. Erik smiled at him softly.

“What was that for?”

“Thank you for talking to Alex, taking care of him and bandaging his hand.” Charles smiled. “You really are going soft.”

“Maybe I am. But that’s not too bad.” Erik chuckled, putting an arm around Charles.

“No, it is most certainly not.” Charles chuckled. “On the contrary; it’s very sweet.”


	3. Be careful making wishes in the dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How the nights are when everyone is preparing for the fight with Shaw and how the first class grows closer to one another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just the third part of the series re-uploaded as a chapter.
> 
> I do not own any of the characters and stories they are from nor rights to any of them. I also don't own the lyrics in the title with are from "My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark" by Fall Out Boy.
> 
> Enjoy ^^

Nights at Westchester were something else if you asked Erik about it. They were not as quiet as one would expect. Erik himself was used to quiet and honestly pretty lonely nights. He was used to silently get ready and then stumble into bed just to either be left alone with his thoughts for a while or to immediately fall into an almost dreamless sleep. But now that he was at the Westchester mansion with Charles and all the others, his nights were far from quiet and far from lonely, as well.

The mostly turbulent evenings already began when everyone started to get ready for bed. Before that, the other inhabitants would just wander off to do their own things. But now he was constantly running into one of the other mutants.

When he was trying to brush his teeth, Sean had walked in and shooed him out because he had to use the bathroom – why he couldn’t just use one of the other bathrooms in the giant manor was beyond Erik. When he was getting a glass of water, Raven was in the kitchen doing the same and trying to chat him up. And on the way to his room, he ran into Alex who was trying to sneak into Sean’s room. Erik couldn’t help but give him a weird look for his attempt to be subtle since it was common knowledge to everyone there that Sean and he were in a relationship.

Eventually, when Erik had made it to his room, Charles was there. The brunet was sitting on his bed, smiling brightly at him.

“Mind if I sleep here tonight?” He cooed.

“If you actually sleep and not try to start anything, then yes.” Erik couldn’t help but chuckle at the other man.

“I’ll give you my word.” Charles put a hand over his heart and let out a dramatic sigh. “Now get under the covers, Erik. It gets cold at night.”

“I’ve noticed during my days here.” He joked and got into bed.

Once he was under the covers, Charles switched off the light and threw an arm around Erik, hugging him tightly and cuddling up to him.

“Sleep well.” The telepath whispered.

“You, too.” Erik smiled and closed his eyes.

And as it was so often the case, he fell asleep quite easily, holding Charles close in his arms as the other man ran his hand up and down Erik’s side.

His peaceful sleep was disturbed only about two hours later when a loud screech woke him. It was so loud that it almost send Charles falling out of bed had it not been for Erik catching him.

“What in the world was that?” Charles asked, groggy but nonetheless worried.

“It sounded like Sean. But what happened is beyond-”

He was interrupted when he heard someone stomping through the hall. He later found out that it was Raven when the person knocked on Sean’s door and started to complain.

“Will you guys shut up in there? I’m trying to sleep!”

Then they heard Hank’s voice as he opened his door. “Don’t yell at them. Maybe Sean is hurt and that’s why he screamed.

“Yeah no. I know what they are doing.” Raven exclaimed annoyedly. “Now shut up in there.”

Hank sighed loudly. “Sean, will you let me in? I want to make sure you’re alright.”

That’s when Charles jumped out of bed and ran into the hallway, apparently also worried about whether or not Sean was alright. Erik sighed and followed him.

Raven turned. “Charles, can you tell them to be- wait why are you in Erik’s room?” She then grinned. “Oh, I see how it is.”

“You know what kind of relationship Erik and I have so stop acting like this is new information.” Charles joked and knocked on the door. “Sean, are you okay?”

That’s when they finally got an answer from inside. It was obviously Sean squeaking in what seemed to be panic before someone stumbled to their feet.

“Don’t come in!” That was Alex’ voice calling to them. “We’re not dressed!”

Now it was Charles’ turn to sigh. “Boys, I know that you are in love and want to explore your feelings and bodies-”

“Gross.” Raven interrupted.

Charles glared at her. “Raven.”

“No, she’s right.” Hank whispered in a more joking manner.

The telepath shook his head and continued. “But could you try to keep it down? Sean, could you at least try to cover your mouth or could you two do this during the day?”

Sean groaned from inside as the door swung open. There stood a scantily dressed Alex and a beet red Sean who was at least wearing his boyfriend’s shirt and not half exposed.

“Well, how would we do it during the day if Erik keeps pushing us for hours on end to train?” Alex asked.

Erik looked shocked. “Why am I the bad one now? I only want you to do good during a fight but I guess that is frowned upon now.”

“Don’t start fighting now.” Raven sighed. “Can you two just keep it down? Some people are trying to sleep. I had a hard enough time falling asleep as it is. Now I’m awake again.”

“I’m sorry.” Sean whispered sheepishly. “We just couldn’t sleep and wanted to tire each other out.”

“Did it work?” Charles asked, looking up.

“Gross.” Raven groaned. “Charles, I know you are weirdly patronizing and want them to talk to you about their lives but this crosses a line.”

Said man looked up. “That’s not how I meant it to come out. I just want to know if it worked so you can go to sleep now.”

“I mean, I am pretty exhausted now.” Sean said, slowly putting his chin on Alex’ shoulder from behind. “Can we go back to bed, babe? I’m tired.”

Alex rolled his eyes affectionately and chuckled. “One second.” He looked at Charles. “We’ll go to bed now. Will you do the same?”

“Yes, I think we will.” Erik said finally. “Come along, Charles.”

Charles smiled gently. “Then I wish you two a good night. And try to keep it down next time.” He then breathed a laugh. “At least you didn’t shatter the windows like before.”

“Charles!” Sean exclaimed, his face getting even redder as he buried it in Alex’ neck.

The telepath chuckled a little. “I’m sorry; I’m just teasing you.” He then leaned in to ruffle Sean’s hair. “Now get to bed you two. We have a full day of training to do tomorrow, yes?”

Sean lifted his head just enough to see Charles and then smiled gently. “Alright, good night.”

Alex nodded. “Good night.” He smiled. “And wow am I excited to train with Erik tomorrow.”

Erik rolled his eyes and laughed a little. “You should be glad. If I wasn’t there, you wouldn’t get anything done.”

“Does ‘anything’ refer to pushing his boyfriend of a satellite dish?” Raven teased.

The German man chuckled. “Alright, get to bed. You were complaining about being woken up, so back to bed.”

Raven rolled her eyes and grinned. “Yeah, good night, Dadneto.”

“Raven.” Erik began but he wasn’t angry. He sounded more amused than anything. “Shut up.”

\---

The next night wasn’t any better. Erik was sleeping in Charles’ room this time and not even two hours after lying down to sleep, he was awoken by a knock on the door.

Charles was out of bed in an instant, worrying that it was something serious. When he opened the door, he saw Sean in front of it, clearly shaking.

“Sean, what’s wrong?” Charles asked gently, reaching out to rub the boy’s arm. “Why don’t you come in, sit down and tell me about it?”

Sean nodded and followed Charles, sitting down on the bed with him. Erik scooted back and pulled his knees up to his chest to give the two some space.

“Now tell me what happened.” Charles whispered.

Sean nodded and began to talk, his voice thick with tears that he didn’t want to let fall. “I had a terrible nightmare. I had a few in the past days, probably from the stress but this one was so bad. I dreamed that Alex was dying at the beach after the fight. He was bleeding so hard and I was so, so, so scared. And I couldn’t help him! I couldn’t get to him! My feet were stuck to the ground!”

Charles nodded along, before putting an arm around Sean. “Oh, dear. Listen, it was just a dream and I can promise you that we will all be alright, yes? Maybe we’ll come home with a few scratches or at worst a broken bone or two but no one will die. You are all so strong, talented and smart. None of you would be defeated and killed. I’m very sure of that.”

“But how can you be so sure?” Sean sobbed. “Shaw is so strong. He killed Darwin. How do you know that he won't kill the rest of us, too?”

“Because when he attacked at the CIA base all of you were unprepared, untrained and alone. Now you have trained and prepared for the fight. He doesn’t have the moment of surprise anymore. You are all a team now with Erik and me by your side. And together we can defeat him and all get out of this alive.” Charles was now stroking Sean’s hair and Erik decided it was time for to get into the conversation, as well.

Slowly he inched closer until he was seated at Sean’s other side. “You know, it’s good that you came to Charles to talk about it. That way we can at least try to calm you down. I know how you feel; Shaw is dangerous and he has people on his side. But Charles is right. We are not alone. You all are not alone anymore and during your training, I saw you get better and stronger. And I’m sure you can take him on.”

Sean looked up to Erik now, silent tears still running down his face. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, absolutely sure.” Erik nodded. “He is strong but so are we.”

“Thank you.” Sean let out a shaky breath and rubbed his eyes.

“Why did you come here?” Charles asked gently. “Why didn’t you talk to Alex?”

“He’s worried enough on his own. He shouldn’t need to worry about me and I thought you two are so strong and confident, you could handle my emotional breakdown.” The ginger explained quietly.

Charles nodded understandingly. “I understand that, sweetheart. But you thought Alex would die. You should at least talk to him to calm your mind a little bit.”

“I know.” Sean sighed. “Can I just stay here for a few more minutes?”

“Of course.” Erik promised before putting a hand on the boy’s back and rubbing it for a few seconds. “Everyone is on edge. And if sitting here with us calms you down a little, that’s alright.”

That’s when they heard a knock on the door and Alex’ voice. “Charles?”

“Come inside.” The man called out.

Alex got inside and when he saw Sean, he ran up to him and crouched down. “What are you doing here? I woke up and you were gone. I was so worried.”

“I had a nightmare.” Sean admitted. “And I didn’t want to worry you.”

“You could have told me.” Alex said gently. “What was the dream about?”

“You died when we were fighting Shaw and I couldn’t get to you.”

“Oh.” Alex breathed and it took him a few seconds to talk. “Listen, Sean. I can’t promise you that I won’t get hurt, but I will try my best to stay out of harm’s way for you. But you gotta do the same for me.”

“I will.” Sean smiled gently.

“Good, because I keep having bad dreams about you or the others dying, too.” Alex chuckled but it seemed forced.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” Erik asked.

“Didn’t mean to worry you.” Alex shrugged.

Charles thought for a second and then smiled. “How about you join us on the bed for a few minutes? You can tell us about your nightmares or don’t if you don’t want to.”

Alex eyed them for a second before slowly sitting down next to Sean and hugging him tightly. Charles smiled gently and kept scratching Sean’s head while Erik put a hand on the telepath’s shoulder, effectively hugging all of them with one arm. They stayed like this for half an hour, just quietly enjoying each other’s comfort. And Charles couldn’t help but smile at the fact that they had become sort of like a family by now.

\---

The day after, neither Sean nor Alex mentioned their nightly visit in Charles and Erik's room. The latter two didn’t really mind and kept on going with their day as usual. That night, however, Erik was again awoken by people walking through the corridor. He didn’t see Charles next to him so he figured he must have gotten up and went to get water or something.

When he exited his room, no one was there but he saw the light burning in the kitchen, seemingly proving his idea. He ventured to the kitchen, figuring he could use a drink himself. But as he stepped foot into the room, he was a little surprised.

Everyone else was in the kitchen at three in the morning. Charles was making something warm to drink for them by the looks of it. Raven was seated at the kitchen island quietly talking to Hank who was sitting next to her. Sean and Alex were sitting on the kitchen island as well with the ginger’s head on the other’s shoulders. Alex was resting his head on Sean’s head and both of them had their eyes closed.

Erik had to stifle a chuckle at how domestic it all seemed. When Charles turned, he smiled brightly at him, holding two cups of something steaming hot.

“Erik, do you want to join us? I couldn’t sleep and went to the kitchen to get some water. On the way, Sean and Alex joined me and Hank and Raven were already down here. We’re having some hot chocolate to calm our nerves.” He said gently.

Raven turned her head and pulled back a stool for him. Erik smiled gently and sat down next to her.

“Couldn’t sleep?” She asked gently.

“Someone was walking down the hall and I woke up. I’m a light sleeper.” He explained, looking at Raven. “Are Sean and Alex asleep?”

“Sean is awake.” The redhead grinned, speaking of himself in the third person. “He’s awake and listening.”

“Alex is, too.” The blond imitated his boyfriend. “We’re just resting our eyes.”

“Well, enough of that.” Charles said gently. “I have your hot chocolate.”

Sean nodded and raised his head, pushing Alex’ back up in the process. “Thanks.”

“Thank you.” Alex whispered and started to blow air into his mug to cool it a little.

Hank smiled a little. “I guess we’ll just stay here and talk to tire us out, right?

“Yes, that sounds acceptable.” Charles smiled. “How about we talk about what design the suits should have that Hank is currently making for us?”

“How about something blue?” Raven suggested.

“Because you are blue?” Alex laughed. “How about something green?”

“Not green.” Hank sighed. “That’s not a complementing colour for Raven and me.”

“Yes.” She grinned. “How about yellow?”

“How do you go from blue to yellow and think it’s also as complimenting?” Erik teased. Raven laughed a little.

“I’m just going through colours.” She shrugged.

“How about the design itself?” Charles suggested.

“Yeah, maybe we should establish that first.” Alex nodded.

Sean smiled and sipped his hot chocolate. “Anyone got ideas?”

And so they spend another hour or two talking about the suits and their plans, drinking hot chocolate and tea, and all-around enjoying each other’s company and comfort.

It was then that Erik realized that as long as he was with the other’s, his evenings and nights were never going to be as quiet as they used to be. But on the other hand, they would not be as lonely either. And that made him quite happy, to say the least.


	4. It's cold and lonely in the deep dark night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night before Cuba has the inhabitants of the mansion on edge. Everyone deals with their fears and emotions in different ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just the next part re-uploaded as a chapter
> 
> Title from "Paradise By The Dashboard Light" by Meat Loaf.
> 
> This is the last of the Pre-Cuba fics, meaning the next one will deal with Cuba or be Post-Cuba.
> 
> I don't own the characters or the source material or the song. Enjoy ^^

Charles eyed Sean’s clearly shaking hand as the boy shovelled noodles onto his and Alex‘ plates. Everyone was on edge. But everyone was trying to deal with their issues themselves and Charles knew that.

Raven was constantly trying to help Hank as best as she could, trying to be useful. She was trying to help him make the suits better and more resilient but it was obvious that she couldn’t be of much help. And that bothered Raven.

Hank himself was constantly trying to make the suits better and better even if they were already top-notch. Charles had tried to tell him how good the suits were and how well they would work but the younger man wouldn’t listen and simply locked himself away in the lab for hours on end.

Alex and Sean were trying to find solace in each other but more often than not they ended up in a little fight over how to train. They were luckily quickly resolved when Erik showed up and tried to push them to their limits during his training. It was obvious that the man just wanted them to be at their best so they would be more likely to succeed but the boys were evidently exhausted and tired.

Charles himself was always trying to keep everyone together. Even if things were serious and their mission was dangerous, he was trying to keep the training at a manageable level. He tried to keep an air of domesticity in order to help the others with their nervousness and fear. But it was obviously not working.

The telepath sighed softly. “Sean, do you need help? The noodles look quite slippery.” He said gently.

“No, I’m fine.” Sean insisted and sat back down, now reaching past Erik to pour sauce onto his noodles. “But thanks.”

“No problem.” Charles smiled. “You all know how things will go tomorrow, right? You know the plan?”

“Yes, Charles.” Raven answered. “You told us several times. It’s not the steps of the plan that worry us but the fact that our opponents are not easy to predict.”

“I know.” The brunet said softly. “But I am sure that we will be able to deal with it nonetheless. After all, humans are good at adapting; how else would we have survived and made it this far?”

That seemed to make Alex chuckle. “Do we get genetics and evolution lessons at the dinner table now, too?”

“No.” Charles breathed a laugh. “I wanted to encourage you.”

“Thank you.” Raven said softly. “But I’m still nervous about it and I think I’m not the only one. I mean Sean is practically shaking.”

The redhead looked up and rolled his eyes jokingly. “I’m nervous. When I’m nervous my hands shake. Leave them alone.”

“Them?” Hank chuckled. “Your hands?”

Sean nodded, grinning a little. “Yes. ‘Them’ means my hands.”

“Do they have their own will?” Erik teased.

“Wouldn’t you like to know, magnet-man?”

Raven laughed at that. “Didn’t we decide to call him Magneto?”

“We did.” Alex grinned. “But Magnet-Man sounds fine to me.”

“Oh, very funny, Alex.” Erik teased back.

Charles sat back in his chair and smiled. At least for a few minutes, his friends seemed to be happy and not as nervous as before. It made Charles incredibly happy to see them laugh again after spending days watching them be nervous and downright terrified. Now the telepath could only hope that it would ease their minds enough to not spend the rest of the night scared and uneasy.

\---

Later that night, Charles realized that his hopes for his friends were not being fulfilled. He could sense their uneasiness, could feel their fear and hear their worries.

Erik next to him turned to his side, lazily throwing an arm over the telepath and cuddling closer to his side. When Erik was sleeping or on the brink of falling asleep, he could get a bit clingy. Charles sighed softly and started to softly scratch the man’s hair, looking out into the rain.

“Charles.” Erik suddenly said, looking up at the other with sleepy eyes. “It’s late. Why are you not asleep?”

“How could I fall asleep when everyone else in the mansion is terrified? They are all so scared. Hank is still going through the plans for the suits, Raven is having a nightmare I believe, Sean is crying and Alex is both terrified of tomorrow and feeling guilty that he can't really comfort him.” Charles explained, softly running his fingers through Erik’s hair. “Should we try to talk to them?”

“Maybe we shouldn’t. They need some space and time to figure out their feelings themselves.” Erik explained softly, trying his best to be sensible about Charles’ feelings. “I know you want to protect them but you can’t protect them from their own fears, Charles. Sometimes people just need to deal with their emotions alone.”

“But they shouldn’t have to.” The telepath whispered sadly. “We should try to help them and talk to them about their fears.”

“Charles, sometimes people need to deal with their fears and worries in their own ways. Not everyone is comfortable with sharing their deepest fears.” The German man said gently, his hand running up and down Charles’ side. “If they want or need our help they will ask for it, I’m sure.”

Charles nodded gently. “I hope you’re right.”

He was quiet for a few moments, listening to the pitter patter of the rain outside and the wind howling around the mansion's walls, sounding like someone moaning in pain. Charles supposed that this was the best weather for a night like this. He turned his head to look at Erik.

“Are you scared?”

Erik looked up at him, his face showing his tiredness. Yet his eyes seemed alert when he looked at Charles. “Of course I am. Where would humans have ended if they hadn’t been afraid of dangerous situations? The important thing is to work past your initial fear and try to overcome it for the greater good.”

“Is the greater good the peace we could bring or your revenge on Shaw?”

Erik was quiet for a moment before he spoke again, his voice darker than before. “You know the answer to that, Charles.”

Charles looked at him and Erik could see the hurt and worry in the other man’s eyes. The telepath sat up, gently pushing Erik off before turning to him.

Charles’ voice was strained with the effort to control his emotions. “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves. Erik, I don’t want you to end up in one of those graves. I cannot bear to see you die. I love you.”

Tears were now threatening to fall from Charles' eyes but he kept his gaze fixed on Erik, hoping that he would get through to him.

Erik sat up, shaking his head. “Then help me, Charles. If you help me we will be able to finally rid this world of Shaw. We can do it, Charles; together.”

Charles took a shaky breath, trying to steady his voice. “Listen to me very carefully, my friend: killing Shaw will not bring you peace.”

“Peace was never an option.”

That was enough for Charles and he quickly got out of bed, putting on his cardigan and shaking his head. Erik looked alarmed and got out of bed, too.

“Where are you going?” He demanded and Charles turned to him, tears running down his face.

“To my room.” He spat. “Killing Shaw and getting your revenge is more important to you than I am; it is more important to you than any of the people in this house are. I thought we had grown closer and become like a family. But I was wrong; you only care about yourself.” A sob wrecked the smaller man’s body.

Erik reached out for the man. “Charles, you know that is not what-”

“Save it!” The telepath snapped before another sob caused him to double over slightly. “You had the chance to be part of something bigger than yourself but you don’t care, do you? Anyone in this house would die to protect you. But I doubt that you would do the same. You are so hellbent on revenge and that will be your undoing, Erik.”

With that Charles practically ran out of the room and down the hall, still crying. Erik was left in the middle of his bedroom, watching the dim light from the hallway break through the darkness around him. Charles was gone and Erik couldn’t help but feel that he might have been right to some extent. But for now, he would try to sleep. He would need his energy.

He quickly closed the door and climbed back into bed, listening to the howling of the wind outside. Tears of his own were running down his cheeks but they were nothing compared to the flood of Charles’ tears. And to make matters worse, Charles’ tears were spent on him.

\---

Raven shot up in bed as she heard footsteps run down the hall. It was a relief, to say the least since the dream she was having was anything but pleasant. Quietly she slipped out of bed and into the hall, determined to go and see Hank.

She knocked on his door and when there was no answer, she opened the door slowly. Inside Hank was lying on his bed, various plans for the suit designs on top of him. The light on his bedside table was still burning, giving off a soft humming noise.

Raven gently took the plans off of Hank and sat down on the bed next to him, leaning in to turn off the lamps. That’s when the man woke up and quickly sat up, knocking his head into Raven’s. Said woman fell back and rubbed her forehead, as did Hank.

“I’m sorry.” He mumbled. “I was startled.”

“It’s fine.” Raven chuckled. “I scared you. I wanted to turn off the lights.”

“Where are the plans?”

“I put them on the table. You should sleep.” She said gently.

“Why aren’t you asleep?”

“I had a nightmare.” She whispered. “Of us nearly dying on Cuba just to be ostracized by society. We were experimented on and some of the team died, like Alex and Sean.”

“That sounds terrifying.” Hank whispered, looking at her sadly. “Do you want to stay here for a while?”

“That’d be nice.” She smiled. “Should we maybe go down to the kitchen to get some tea? I’m sure Charles had some teas to calm our nerves.”

“Shouldn’t you know?” Hank chuckled. “You lived here.”

“Yes, but I don’t know what tea Charles has.” She shrugged. “Now come on.” Raven held out a hand and Hank let himself be helped up.

He followed her downstairs, watching as she started to get everything for the tea. “Do you know that I could possibly make something that would eliminate our visible mutation? I mean the abilities would stay but we would look normal on the outside.”

Raven turned and eyed him. “Do you care about what I look like? Would you want me less if I looked like this?” She changed into her blue form. “Or would you prefer the pretty looking Raven?”

“I think you look beautiful either way.” Hank whispered. “Yet maybe the people would accept us more.”

“Lately I’ve been thinking and talking to Erik, you know? I think that maybe it doesn’t matter what I look like if I can use my powers for something that will shape and change the world. We wil stop a war tomorrow.” She explained.

Hank looked at her sadly. “And still you are scared of being ostracized.”

Raven poured the hot water into the cup and put it down in front of Hank. “What tea do you want?”

Hank took this as his cue to stop talking about the topic. “I’ll have what you have.”

The woman gave him a small smile. “Alright, then chamomile it is.” She joked. “Hank, do you think we will still all be together after the battle is done?”

“We will.” Hank stated. “At least I hope we will.”

\---

Alex kept rocking back and forth, holding a sobbing Sean in his lap. The wind was howling harder now and Sean’s sobs and wails matched it quite well. He would have joked about it had the redhead not been this distraught.

“Sean, calm down.” He whispered for what felt like the hundredth time in the last half an hour. “I’m sorry. You need to calm down.”

“How can I calm down?” The redhead wailed. “How can I calm down when you tell me things like ‘I would literally die to keep you safe tomorrow’ or ‘My wellbeing isn’t as important as yours’? You’d die for me and I’d be the cause of your death!”

“Baby, that’s not what I meant.” Alex whispered. “I just wanted to assure you that I’d keep you safe.”

“But I want you to keep yourself safe, too.” The ginger whimpered. Alex was relieved that his wails had died down to quiet whimpers. “I want you to survive.”

“I will.” Alex assured. “Somehow I always do.”

Sean took a shuddering breath and looked up. “Wil you promise me to watch out for yourself, Alex? Of course, you can try to look after me but please try to put yourself first this time.”

“You know I’ve never been good at that.” He whispered, kissing Sean’s head. “But I will do my best.”

The ginger finally stopped crying and uncurled his body a little. “I’ll do my best to protect you, too.”

The blond looked at him, his eyes glassy. “Now you’re not any better.” He chuckled, forcing his laughter past the lump in his throat. “I mean, you want me to put myself first and not solely try to protect you but now you are saying that you will try to protect- protect me?”

He burst into tears on the last syllable. Sean gasped in shock and worry and quickly gathered Alex’ head to his shoulder. “Don’t cry, babe. Of course, I’ll keep myself safe. I just want you to know that if you are in danger, I will come to your aide.” He cooed, taking Alex’ face in his hands.

“How about we just say that we will keep ourselves safe and if the other needs help, we will help them, too?” Alex sobbed.

Sean laughed lovingly. “That’s what I was trying to say.”

“And that’s what I was trying to convey before you even started crying!” Alex exclaimed. Sean laughed at that and pulled Alex into a loving kiss. “Shay, maybe we should sleep. The crying has tired me out.”

“How about we tire ourselves out just a little more?” Sean whispered. “Just a little more, babe.”

“Aren’t I the one that would get tired out more since I always do most of the work?” Alex jokes. “But then again you look so good underneath me, baby.”

Sean blushed but chuckled. “Then let’s do it one last time before we sleep. Even if I run the risk of my hips hurting like hell tomorrow -which is not that great during fighting- I’m really feeling in the mood.”

The blond chuckled and turned with Sean, pushing him down onto the bed and climbing on top of him. “I’ll try to be gentle with you, baby.”

Sean chuckled again and then his grin melted into a genuine smile. “Alex, I really love you. I love you so much and when everything is over, I want to spend so many more wonderful years and preferably the rest of my life with you.”

Alex leaned down to kiss Sean’s nose. “You’re so sappy. But you said what I was thinking. I love you so much, Sean. Let’s just stop worrying about tomorrow and instead look forward to the day after tomorrow.”


	5. I lost a friend somewhere along in the bitterness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Cuba mission finally happens but things don't go as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just part five re-uploaded as chapter five.
> 
> Title from "How To Save A Life" by The Fray
> 
> I'm not really good at writing fight scenes, so I skipped it. And Erik takes the bullet for Charles but still doesn't want to accept his views.
> 
> I don't own the characters, the source material or the song.   
> Enjoy ^^

In the early morning hours of the 28 of October 1962, the first class met in the kitchen of the Westchester mansion. All of them had passed a more or less terrible night full of fears and worries about the day ahead.

Charles looked up at the others and a thin smile spread upon his face. “Good morning. I hope that despite your fears, you got a little bit of sleep.”

Raven shrugged a little. “I spend a few hours talking to Hank but eventually I managed to get a bit of sleep.”

“Me, too.” Hank smiled. “I slept about five hours. I think that will be enough.”

Sean smiled, rubbing the side of his face sleepily. “Alex and I managed to fall asleep eventually. We tired ourselves out in several ways.”

Raven looked up and chuckled. “Gross.”

“No, Sean also cried.” Alex commented.

Charles smiled sympathetically. “I know. I heard both of you cry. Did you manage to resolve the issues?”

“Yes, we did. Let’s just eat and get ready. The sooner we get this over with, the better.” Alex said and walked toward the fridge.

That’s when Erik entered the room. Charles seemed to tense up and eyed the other man. Erik held his gaze for a moment before walking to the coffee machine to make himself some coffee. The telepath’s gaze followed Erik’s movements. He wanted to apologize to the man and make up but on the other hand, he didn’t want him to think that he approved of his kind of revenge. He sighed quietly and went to the stove to start making breakfast.

Raven watched him. “I take it that there is trouble in paradise.” She said softly. “It was only a matter of time until your different views clashed.”

Hank gently smacked her arm. “Don’t be so bold about it.”

She gave him a glance out of the corner of her eyes. “I thought my brother was all about openly speaking about problems.”

Charles turned. “I can assure you that a little fight between Erik and I should not be any of your concern. That is something Erik and I will work through personally and it will not impact our work.”

Erik turned around and smiled a little. “How about we all just eat breakfast and then get ready?”

The telepath nodded. “That’s a good idea.”

\---

When everyone had finished breakfast, they went to get dressed. Down in the lab, Hank had laid out their suits and was now fussing over everyone to put them on correctly.

Sean had his arms stretched out and looked at Alex. “Can you zip me up, babe? The zipper is stuck.”

Alex eyed him and laughed. “No, I think you should just try to fly with an unzipped suit.” He explained sarcastically and approached the ginger. “Of course I’ll help. Now hold still.”

Complying, Sean lifted his chin to give Alex better access and the boy quickly zipped up the suit. “Thanks.” The redhead smiled and turned to press a small kiss to Alex’ cheek.

“Very professional.” Erik teased slightly, zipping up his own suit.

Charles watched the others, while he himself put on the gloves. “Alright, is everyone about ready? Moira will be here soon to pick us up.”

“Well actually, I really need to pee.” Sean announced.

Alex looked at him. “I just helped you zip up!” He exclaimed.

“I was joking!” Sean laughed. “This suit would be an ordeal to get off.”

“That is true.” Raven chuckled, pulling the zipper a little lower. “And I actually hate things that have a turtleneck on them.”

“Things that have a turtleneck on them? You mean Erik?” Alex joked.

Raven snorted and began to laugh. “I meant as in the clothes I wear.”

Sean was laughing in the background, slightly doubling over. “Alex, stop! If you keep making me laugh I might need to actually use the bathroom and you’ll have to unzip this suit for me because this zipper sucks.”

“The zippers are perfectly functional. I don’t know what you’re doing wrong.” Hank joked. “The others are capable of closing and opening them, too.”

“So are these zippers on the thighs serving any function or are they just an aesthetic feature?” Charles mumbled, unzipping the zipper on his thigh.

“Will you all stop making fun of the suits I made?” Hank exclaimed but he didn’t sound angry. “They are flight suits designed to withstand extreme g-forces. Havok and Banshee’s suits were designed to work in perfect tandem with their powers.”

Sean chuckled. “Havok and Banshee.”

Raven grinned. “Yes, our codenames, Sean.”

Erik raised an eyebrow. “Magneto is still not really creative.”

“As if you won’t go on using it.” Charles joked and looked at Hank. “Now are we all ready to go?”

Hank held up a finger. “Wait, I need to clip the wings to Sean’s wrists.” He said and then proceeded to do just that. “Now we’re all done.”

Raven nodded. “Well then let’s go.”

Erik looked at Charles for second and then sighed. “Yes, let’s go. Shaw won’t wait for us to arrive before starting his plan.”

Charles returned the German man’s gaze and nodded. “Erik’s right. There’s no time to lose.”

\---

Hours later, Sebastian Shaw was dead, killed by Erik with the help of Charles. The nuclear war had been delayed and even if the risk of it was still present, it was a small victory.

Erik was bleeding in the sand, holding his chest. When Moira had shot at him, he had heard Charles call out to him and the agent had hit him. The only solace for him was that he had been in the way of the bullet and it had not struck Charles. Yet bleeding out in the sand was not the way he wanted to go.

Charles was by his side in an instant. “Oh God, Erik.” He was panicking slightly. “Hang in there, love. We’ll stop the bleeding and Hank will patch you up once we get home. Just stay with me and calm down. Why did you not deflect the bullet?”

“I didn’t want to put you at risk of getting hit.” He whispered.

The bullet had struck just underneath his collarbone and had lodged itself firmly into his right chest. Breathing was beginning to get hard due to the pain yet Erik knew that he would not necessarily die from this. But nonetheless, Charles was beside himself with worry.

“Hank, get the first aid kit from the plane!” He called out and the man did so. Then Charles went back to stroking Erik’s hair and applying pressure to the wound. “We’ll get you to a doctor, love. You’ll be alright, I promise.”

To his surprise, Erik rose and shook his head, one hand pressed over the wound on his chest. “No. Us turning on each other. It’s what they want. I tried to warn you, Charles. I want you by my side. We’re brothers, you and I. All of us, together. Protecting each other. We want the same thing.” With that, he extended his hand to Charles.

But Charles took a step back to get closer to Sean, Hank, Moira and Alex. “My friend, I’m sorry. But we do not.”

Erik merely nodded as he took Angel’s hand. She was next to Azazel and Riptide. He looked back at Charles and the at Raven and the others. “The society won’t accept us. We form our own. The humans have played their hand. Now we get ready to play ours. Who’s with me? No more hiding.”

Raven eyed him for a second and then turned to Charles. “I should stay with you, shouldn’t I? As your sister and as your friend, I should stay with you.”

Charles looked at her heartbrokenly. “You should go with him. It’s what you want.”

“You promised me you would never read my mind.”

“I’m sorry.” With that, he approached her and leaned in to press a kiss to her forehead. “You can choose to go with him if that is what you want. But you are always welcomed to come back home. My doors are always open.”

Raven smiled at him sadly before leaning in to press her lips to his cheek. “Take care of the others, Charles. And do take care of yourself. Maybe we’ll see each other again someday. I’m sorry, but I cannot stay.”

Charles nodded. “You are free to go. I love you. I can’t force you to stay with me.”

Raven looked at him one last time and then went to take Erik’s hand. And before anyone knew what was happening, all of them disappeared thanks to Azazel. Charles watched the smoke that the teleportation had left behind until it had dissolved. His lover was gone and so was his dear sister.

Yet he had a feeling that it was for the best. Making them stay would have only made them and the other inhabitants of the manor miserable. He loved them very dearly but he had to grant them their freedom. If they ever came back to him, perhaps he could try to rekindle their relationship. But if they never came back, he would simply have to accept that fact, as well.

His moment of contemplation was interrupted when he heard Sean groan in pain followed by a thud. Just afterwards Alex gasped a little. When Charles turned, Sean was kneeling on the ground, holding his chest and Alex was standing on one foot, looking very pained.

Moira looked at them with worry in her eyes before rushing over to their side to ask if they were alright. “Sean, where does it hurt?” She asked gently.

The ginger gasped for air and widely gestured across his chest. “Everywhere.”

She turned to Hank. “You should see to him. I need to call someone to pick us up immediately. I hope I’ll be able to reach someone. I’ll tell them that there are injured people here.”

Charles rushed to the boys, just as Hank had started to unzip Sean’s suits. When it was pulled back it revealed a large bruise on his chest. The telepath gasped quietly in shock.

“It’s probably a fractured rib or several.” Hank mused and gently pressed on the ginger’s chest to feel for any fractures.

Sean wailed in pain and grasped for Alex’ arm, knocking the blond off balance. Charles quickly rushed over to him and supported him.

“Alex, your foot is probably hurt. Sit down.” He instructed gently.

“But what about Sean?” He questioned, worry crossing his face. “He’s worse off than I am.”

“That does not mean that you should hurt yourself even more. Sit down on the sand. Hank will take good care of Sean.” Charles promised and helped Alex sit down. Then he gently took off the boy’s boot to which Alex groaned in pain. “I know it hurts, but I need to take a look at your foot, alright? Try to take deep breaths and concentrate on me.” Then he examined the boy’s foot. “Yes, it’s probably broken. Can you move your toes?”

Alex shook his head. “No, I can’t. It really hurts, so would you stop touching it?”

“I can try to take the pain away from you or more like block it out for you.” Charles suggested.

Alex shook his head again. “No, I can deal with it. If anyone needs that, it’s Sean.”

The ginger was done being examined by Hank who was now helping him sit down. “I think it’s two broken ribs. I can’t really tell without an X-Ray but we will take care of that later. Now he just needs to stay calm. He can breathe without any problems, though. So I think his lungs should be fine.”

Charles smiled and knelt down in front of Sean. “Thank you, Hank.” He then started to talk to the boy. “Sean, you and Alex did amazing today. And do you know what?”

“What?” Sean asked, his breath laboured from the pain.

“You both survived.” Charles smiled. “You’re hurt but your injuries will heal. What is important is that you both survived and we can all go home. You two can help me build up a school for mutants and you can live out the rest of your lives together because you survived.”

Sean looked at him for a second before the realisation hit him and he burst into tears of relief. “You’re right!” He sobbed. “We’re alive.” Then he grasped his chest. “Crying hurts my rips.” He whimpered.

Alex scooted over and threw an arm across Sean’s shoulders. “Then stop crying. There’s no need to cry. We survived.”

Sean took a shaky breath. “You’re right. I’m just so relieved.” He leaned into the hug as best as he could with his broken ribs. “We survived.”

Charles smiled warmly as he watched the two of them relax at the realisation that their nightmares had not come true. Alex kept telling Sean to stop crying because according to him there was no reason for it. That did not stop a few stray tears from running down his face, though. Hank was smiling at Charles, even though his eyes reflected a certain sadness and the telepath could understand that feeling all too well. Then Moira emerged from the wreck of the airplane and offered them a relieved smile.

“Someone is coming to pick us up.” She exclaimed. “They’ll be here as soon as possible and they’re sending an air ambulance. I told them that we had some injuries and they promised to hurry.”

Charles turned to her and offered her a smile. “Thank you, Moira.” He let his gaze drift over the two boy’s sitting on the floor, Moira gently smiling at him and Hank that was checking in on Alex and Sean. The telepath heaved a sigh and smiled more genuinely now.

“We’re going home.”


	6. We all got old at breakneck speed, slow it down, go easy on me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charles plans to open up his school while all of the team fears that Alex and Sean might have to go fight in the war. In their moments of fear, they find solace in the memory of their childhood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part six as chapter six.
> 
> So things are getting more serious. I read up on the draft and even if I have a vague idea of it, I know very little about it. So please excuse mistakes I made in giving reasons why people are not in the draft or showing how it worked.
> 
> Title from the song "Wetsuit" by The Vaccines.  
> I don't own the characters, the source material or the song.  
> Enjoy ^^

In November of 1962, the inhabitants of the Westchester mansion had completely gone back to their normal routines. Charles had started to prepare the mansion so it could house the first students he wanted to find and teach. They would not necessarily be many in number but he would help them. Hank was helping Charles prepare the mansion and so were Alex and Sean.

It was a rainy afternoon when Charles came into the living room where Alex and Sean were currently talking and listening to music. He smiled to himself as he saw how much more relaxed and happy they were now that the fight on Cuba was behind them. Sean had his legs flung over Alex’ lap and was lazily talking away about a song they had listened to prior.

Charles approached them and sat down, smiling. “Alright, boys. I hope you’re ready to go on the recruiting visit today. Hopefully taking you two with me will convince the kids that I can actually help them as I helped you.”

Sean let his head fall back. “Wait, that was today?”

“Yes, Sean.” Charles chided. “I told you to write it down.”

“Sorry.” The ginger chuckled. “Well, I guess we have to go.”

“I hope this is quick. I was looking forward to a nice afternoon with Sean.” Alex grumbled.

Charles chuckled. “It’s certainly not my fault that both of you didn’t mark the date in your calendar or something.”

“Our what?” Alex started to laugh. “Why would we have a calendar? We’re not some old fart like you.”

“Thank you for that.” Charles smiled and stood back up. “Now come along.”

\---

The recruiting visit had gone well and the only thing left to do was convincing the parents to let their kids move into the school, at least until the young twin girls had learned to control their powers enough to not endanger anyone.

While he was discussing study plans and visiting hours with the two, Alex and Sean were keeping the little girls Hazel and Maeve occupied.

Hazel grinned up at Sean. “You’re just as tall as my big brother David!” She laughed happily. “He’d always help me reacht he monkey bars when playing in the garden!”

“Really now?” Sean chuckled, crouching down. “Well, I would help you with that as well but playing in the rain is not such a nice experience.”

Alex looked up from where he was playing Cat’s Cradle with Maeve. “Sean is really tall. But he’s also very lanky and clumsy.”

“I’m not clumsy.” Sean defended himself.

“Just this morning you were standing in my room and tripped without even walking.” Alex laughed.

Maeve erupted in laughter and her sister joined in. “David is also really clumsy! He always dropped everything.”

“Where is David? I haven’t seen him around.” Sean mused. “Is he in college or at work or something?”

The girls quieted down and Maeve started to fiddle with the string her and Alex had previously been playing with. “No.” She whispered. “He left two months ago just after Hazel and I had turned eleven. He was eighteen so he had to fight in the war.”

Both Alex and Sean went quiet. The ginger looked at the girls sadly and Alex himself was feeling scared. He himself could be in the draft before he even knew what was happening. Even if he hoped that him working at the school would allow him to stay at home, this could only happen once the school was actually opened and respected by the state. Until then he could be called in at any moment.

That was also why Charles and Hank were hurrying so much to get the school opened. Charles as a Professor and someone older than 26 would not be in the draft. And Hank was currently working for the CIA in the lab until the school was opened. But Alex and Sean had nothing that would keep them at home. Yet if they could teach at the school, they had a high chance of being able to stay home.

Sean was the first to speak. “I’m sure he’ll come home soon enough. And I’m sure he’ll be fine. He’ll be so happy to see you again.”

Hazel nodded sadly. “I miss him.”

“I can understand that. You know I have siblings, too. But they are all the way over in Ireland and I rarely ever see them.”

“That’s sad,” Hazel whispered and got up to wrap her arms around Sean’s neck. “Do you think David will come back?”

Sean looked at Alex, seeking help and the blond chimed in. “We always worry about our loved ones coming back but most of the time we don’t have to, because they would do close to anything to come back to us. I’m sure David will do anything to come back to you two.”

Meave smiled then. “Can we play a board game?”

“Alright.” Sean said gently. “Hazel, do you want to join?”

The girl let go of Sean and nodded. “Yes, please.”

\---

Later that evening, Sean and Alex were in the ginger’s room, lying on the bed and talking. That’s when Sean rolled over to cuddle to Alex’ side.

“Do you think we’ll get the school running before we eventually have to go to war?” Sean whispered. “I heard they do terrible things once they find out you are a mutant. I heard that they experiment on you, cut you open and then leave you on some cold and sterile metal table.”

Alex looked down at the boy and stroked his hair. “Where do you hear things like that? Sean, we’ll be alright. Charles is doing everything he can to get the school running and it’ll probably only take a month or so until he does. And then we’ll probably be fine.”

Sean nodded quietly and sighed. “If we are in the draft, we need to stay together, yes? Do you promise that you will always stay by my side.”

“If I can, I will.” Alex said gently. “Why would I want to leave you? But we should try to not let our mutation show.”

“Yes.” Sean groaned. “Alright, let’s just talk about something else.”

Alex smiled. “When I was a small boy, I really wanted to be a pilot and fly a fighter jet at least once in my life. Now I just wish I never have to see one of them in real life.”

“When I was a little kid, I wanted to become a singer.” Sean chuckled. “We had a nanny and she would always sing along with me while she was getting us ready for school or bed.”

“Is she still with your family?”

“Yes, she’s taking care of my younger sister and toddler brother. All of my other siblings are old enough to have kids on their own so being coddled by Magda is not needed anymore.” Sean laughed. “You know what I loved as a kid?”

“No, how would I?” Alex smiled.

“I loved to ride my bicycle. But one day I fell with it and hurt my leg really badly.” He said. “My big brother Aidan had to carry me home and we went to the ER immediately. It was broken and my mother was so angry because we rode the bikes through the woods behind the house where we weren't supposed to go.”

“I loved to play soccer.” Alex explained. “I once got a ball to the face and it knocked out one of my milk-teeth.”

“We once did the cliche thing of putting a string to the door and tying the other end to my tooth to pull it out.” Sean laughed. “I don’t think I’ve ever been that scared.”

“Not even now?” Alex teased. “You might go to war but that is, of course, nothing compared to getting a milk-tooth pulled out.”

“I wanted to distract from the topic of war and you bring it up.” Sean chided. “Can we not talk about that and literally just talk about anything else?”

Alex looked at the ceiling. “Sean?”

“Yes?”

Alex laughed. “How the hell do you trip while just standing and doing nothing?”

\---

Meanwhile, Charles was setting up the room he had prepared for Maeve and Hazel. He and Moira had bought two single beds for the room, along with a wardrobe and two tables to work on. She was very happy to find out that Charles had already recruited two students. The girls were told that they could bring any toys or decoration that they wanted. He was sure they would prefer to decorate the room themselves.

Still the idea to find some of his old toys just in case the girls didn’t bring anything, popped into his head. Thus he ventured into an old storage room on the uppermost floor. He had expected to find some of his old games or toys to bring down but what he found was an old box titled “Raven”.

He smiled to himself as he dropped to his knees and opened it. It was filled with everything she had used to play with, from the dolls she played with as a smaller girl to the fake doctor’s kit she had loved when she was a little older.

Charles could remember how she had once come to him when he was sick and pretended to take care of him since his parents didn’t care and only got him some medicine from the family doctor. She spent the afternoon testing his reflexes with a little hammer and pretending to listen to his lungs with the fake stethoscope. Charles had, of course, played along.

Underneath all of the toys was the yoyo Charles had once gotten her that she had spent hours practising with when she was bored. He found an unsolved Rubiks Cube that she had played with on a rainy afternoon but simply given up on when Charles had invited her to play with him.

When he got past the toys he also found old drawings of hers. They ranged from crude and childlike drawings of her and Charles to pretty well-drawn sketches from her teen years. Charles had to chuckle when he saw how the birds she used to draw had evolved from wiggly lines to really detailed and lifelike pencil sketches.

He truly missed her. But he knew that he did the right thing in letting her go. Even if he was worried and sick with the longing to at least talk to her over the phone, he knew that he shouldn’t contact her. She needed her space. All her life Raven had grown up side-by-side with Charles and her need for freedom and space was understandable. Still, he wished he could see her smile once more. But it seemed that he had to be satisfied with seeing her smile only in his dreams and memories.

Charles only stopped looking through the box when Hank called him down for dinner. When he arrived in the kitchen he expected Hank, Alex and Sean to be happy about what the day had brought but they looked terrified.

“What happened?” Charles inquired. “Did something happen?”

Sean held up a letter. “We’re in the draft.” He stammered, tears gathering in his eyes. “Both of us.”

Alex swallowed thickly. “We’ll have to fight in Vietnam.”

Charles felt his heart drop into his stomach. The two young boys that he had come to know and love like brothers were supposed to fight in a war. And he couldn’t shake off the feeling that it was due to his failure of opening up the school fast enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are going to get more serious but I will not write graphic depictions of war or the torture/ experiments done by Trask between XMFC and XMDOFP. But I will write about the aftermath.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed so far.


	7. A dream unthreatened by the morning light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charles tries everything to reach Erik and ask for help to keep Alex and Sean at home. He never reaches him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part seven as chapter seven.
> 
> Title from "Learning To Fly" by Pink Floyd.
> 
> I don't own any of the characters, the source material or the song.  
> Comments and Kudos are always appreciated if you want to. Enjoy ^^

A week had passed since Sean and Alex had been notified that they were in the draft. Now they were preparing to go on Monday. Originally they had planned to spend their last weekend at home with Charles and Hank but their fears rendered them unable to enjoy the time with their friends.

The night from Friday to Saturday, Charles had been working when he practically felt Alex’ fear from all the way down in his study. Charles sighed heavily. Hank had persisted on it not being Charles’ fault but nonetheless, the man felt like it was. Alex and Sean trusted him and he had failed them. Had he only been more persistent about getting the school opened, they might have never been in the draft.

But there was nothing he could do about it now, at least not alone. For the better part of the week, he had contemplated whether or not to contact Erik. In a moment of weakness when he was sorting through his papers and found a few photos he had taken of him and the two boys while training for Cuba, he had written a letter to Erik. He had written it to an address Moira had found but she had told him that Erik might have already relocated. She had felt so terribly guilty about it and Charles had felt it.

Erik had never answered his letter, so Charles decided to call him via every number that he could possibly connect to the other mutant. But he was unsuccessful at reaching him. Hank had told him to use Cerebro but Charles was against it. He had promised Erik to not read his mind anymore.

It was during a hot summer night when the two had been lying in bed, holding each other that Erik had asked Charles to not look into his mind again. Charles still didn’t fully understand that sudden change of heart but had not questioned it, instead opting for respecting Erik’s wishes.

Erik had always trusted Charles -or so the telepath thought. During their time training, the two had become closer and closer until they eventually even had sex. From that point on Charles had believed to have had Erik’s trust. Erik had let him see into his mind, had talked to him about his past and had entrusted his deepest desires and wishes to Charles.

Then when he was shot on Cuba, Erik had put on the helmet and effectively blocked Charles out. Even worse, he had not trusted Charles to see to his wound. There was blood oozing out of Erik’s chest which could have very well killed him depending on where the bullet had struck. But Erik had still refused to let Charles help him.

That was what finally showed Charles that he had lost Erik’s trust on that fateful day on a beach in Cuba.

Even still he loved Erik very dearly. Charles had spent so many days, roaming the halls of the mansion and wishing to see Erik’s face behind the turn of every corner. But with every corner he rounded and with every time Erik was not there, his hope of seeing him again faded more and more.

Nonetheless, he still loved Erik.

And he hoped that Erik still loved him or at least the other inhabitants of the mansion. With a heavy sigh, Charles decided to contact Erik via Cerebro, hoping he was not wearing the helmet that was effectively blocking Charles out.

When he arrived in the foyer, he saw Hank walking past. “Hank, could you help me with Cerebro?”

“You want to contact Erik.” The other man said matter-of-factly.

Chares nodded. “Don’t get me wrong, Hank. I don’t want to contact him for my own selfish desires, even if the longing to be with him is tearing me apart. I need his help. We need to find a way to keep Sean and Alex here with us. And we need help opening the school faster.”

Hank smiled at him understandingly and put a hand on his shoulder. “I would help you even if it was just because you miss him. I can see how much you miss him, Charles. It’s very selfless of you to push that aside to help Alex and Sean.”

“We need help, Hank.” Charles whispered. “My feelings for Erik are not important right now.”

“You always push your own feelings aside to help others.”

“It’s what I’ve been doing all my life.”

Hank nodded and then smiled gently. “Let’s see if we can contact him.”

\---

Sean looked up at Alex who was still busy packing his duffle bag. “Do you think we’ll be able to still be together?”

“Sean, you know we can’t show our relationship.” Alex said softly.

“No, I mean to physically be together?” The ginger clarified.

“I hope we are.” Alex whispered. “I’m so worried that something might happen to you. I want to stay close and protect you as best as I can.”

“So do I.” Sean said and got up, embracing Alex. “We just stopped fighting. We just won the fight against Shaw and now we have to fight again.”

Alex nodded along and began to stroke Sean’s hair. “It’s unfair, I know. Innocent men shouldn’t have to fight for the conflicts that leaders create by not being able to live peacefully and coexist.”

“I’m so scared.” Sean whispered and Alex could hear the strain in his voice. “I don’t want to die and I don’t want you to die. I don’t want to get experimented on. All I want is to help Charles with the school, stay here and help the kids and live my life with you. My only dream is to live my life with you and the others.”

“I can only second that.” The blond commented. “But we have to be strong now, alright? We’ll go to Vietnam as we must, we’ll fight and then when the war is over we come back and make those dreams come true.”

Sean looked up at Alex, a few tears slipping down his face. “Do you think we can? Do you think we can really make our dreams come true?”

“Just think of having to go to war as a minor setback.” Alex whispered, trying not to cry. He had to be strong for Sean now. “How much longer could the war possibly go? Instead of making our dreams come true now we’ll just have to do it a little later.”

“It’s just a setback.” Sean whispered, repeating Alex’ words. “We’ll just carry out all of our plans once we get back.”

“This is not the end of our plans and our future together.” Alex said firmly. “We still have our dreams and we will still make them come true. We’ll just have to wait a little longer.”

“Our dreams are still unthreatened.” Sean nodded. “Alex, promise me to do everything you can to survive.”

“Only if you promise me to do the same.”

“I promise.” Sean smiled sadly.

“Then I promise to do the same.” With that, Alex leaned down to kiss Sean. “How about I finish packing tomorrow? How about for now we just have some fun and try to distract ourselves? What do you want to do?”

“Let’s look at the stars and talk about the weirdest and most random things.” Sean smiled gently. “Just like we used to on the night you confessed your feelings to me.”

“I like that idea a lot. But you know what would make it even better?”

“What?”

“If we steal Charles’ portable music player and listen to our favourite songs. We’ll give to back to him later.” Alex grinned.

“Giving it back to him isn’t really was stealing means.” Sean laughed. “You know that, right?”

“Oh shut it.” Alex teased. “Come on, you know-it-all. We’ll just ask to borrow it.”

With that he let go of Sean and grabbed his hand, gently pulling him along, leaving the duffle back and the fears it evoked for another day.

\---

Meanwhile, Charles was getting desperate. He put the cap down and let his hand fall into his face. “I can’t reach Erik!”

“It’s alright. We’ll just change the setting and try it again.” Hank said encouragingly. “Maybe I set it up wrong.”

Charles and Hank both knew this that was most likely not the case. Hank was far too smart to make the mistake of setting things up in the wrong way. But maybe it was due to Erik relocating and them not knowing where exactly he went.

“Alright, try it again.” Hank smiled. “It’ll work this time.”

Charles nodded and put the cap back on, closing his eyes. And to his big surprise, he found Erik. Relief flooded him and he decided to make his presence known.

“Erik, old friend. Please hear me out. We-” He stopped and opened his eyes. “He blocked me out. He must have put that damn helmet of his on to do so.” With that he put the cap back down and stood up, ruffling his hair. “What else can we do, Hank?”

“I don’t know.” Hank said and then shook his head.

Charles sighed. “All we can do is start the school as soon as we can and then try to get Alex and Sean back home because we need them to help.”

“We could try that. Maybe Moira can help with that.” Hank said and put a hand on Charles’ back. “It’s not your fault, you know?”

“It feels like it’s my fault, though.” Charles looked up. “I was supposed to protect them and I failed at that.”

“Charles, you-”

“Charles, this is not your fault.” It was Sean and Alex at the door. The ginger was speaking to them. “Please don’t blame yourself. We’ll be alright. At least I hope so.”

Alex smiled sadly. “Really, Charles. We don’t blame you. We just hope that we can come back to you guys soon enough and help you with the school. I hope we can still come back to you.”

Charles looked at the boys and smiled gently. “You can always come back to us. You are always welcome here. This is your home as much as it is my home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, thank you to everyone who left nice comments on the original series and not this upload. You are welcomed to continue reading it in this format of course if you enjoyed. ^^


	8. It's even harder to picture that you're not here next to me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Alex and Sean leave, Charles keeps delaying the school's opening. Moira tries to talk to him but Charles is scared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title from "Payphone" by Maroon 5
> 
> I don't own the characters, song or source material.  
> Enjoy ^^

Alex looked out the window as Hank parked the car in front of the town hall. A lot of other young man and their families were already there. Sean next to him grasped his hand even tighter now and Alex turned to him.

“Sean, look at me.” Alex whispered. “We may not be able to openly show our relationship or our mutation but I will always be by your side.”

Sean turned to him, tears in his eyes. “I don’t want to die.”

Charles turned in the passenger seat. “Boys, we already talked about this. You’ll be alright, I promise. And we’ll try and get you back as soon as possible. Somehow we’ll manage to. I promise that everything will be alright.”

“You promise?” Sean asked quietly.

“As much as I can.” Charles commented and smiled at him. “Now let’s get you to the other boys and say goodbye.”

And before they knew it, they were wishing each other farewell. Alex clutched the strings of his duffle bag and Sean fiddled nervously with the ones on his.

Charles looked at them. “You’ll be alright, yes? And once this is all over, you can come home.” With that, he embraced both of them.

Alex awkwardly patted the man’s back. “Thanks, Charles. I’m looking forward to coming back to you and I've never looked forward to going anywhere in my life.”

Charles chuckled at that. “I’m glad.”

Sean clung to Charles and sniffled quietly. “I’ll miss you guys.”

“We’ll miss you, too.” Hank whispered and smiled sadly. “But missing each other is good, isn’t it? If we wouldn’t miss each other, we would probably not even care about one another.”

Charles nodded and petted Sean’s hair a little. “We’ll see each other again, soon. And if you decide to write to me, I’ll answer both of your letters.”

Sean let go and Alex put a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll write.”

Alex grinned a little. “I’ll see about it.”

Charles chuckled and nodded. “Then I guess this is goodbye.”

“But only for now.” Sean quickly interjected. “We’ll see each other again.”

“Of course, we will.” Charles smiled and then waved as the two of them headed over to the other young man.

And that was the last he heard of them for months.

\---

Three months after Sean and Alex’ departure, Charles had managed to get all the necessary permissions and licenses to open up his school.

Five months after their departure, Charles and Hank had managed to prepare the building and remodel it in record time.

Eight months after Sean and Alex left, a lot of children had applied for the school and a lot of them were sought out by Charles and Hank and eventually agreed to come to the school.

Nine months later and there was not a single child in the school. When another month had passed and not one child even came to the school during the day, Hank decided to not push Charles too much. The telepath probably had a reason to delay the opening.

That changed when Moira showed up at their doorstep one morning, tons of paperwork in her arms and a stern expression on her face.

Hank asked her to come inside and after thanking him, she quickly made her way up to Charles’ study.

“Charles.” She said sternly as she walked inside, putting the paperwork down in front of him. “Why do I have records of over 40 applications for your school, all ranging back to months ago, yet there is not a single student here?”

“Moira, we’re not ready, yet. The school isn’t ready for them.” He explained.

“You rebuild all of the excess rooms to accommodate to learning, you stocked up on tons of school supplies and you bought furniture for the rooms of the students that will live here. That happened months ago. Charles, why are there no students here?” She persisted, her voice firm but gentle. “Charles, the school is ready. Are you not ready to teach?”

“No.” Charles admitted. “I failed to open the school on time to keep Alex and Sean here. I failed them, Moira. They trusted me and I couldn’t protect them. What makes you and Hank believe I could protect these children? I taught Sean and Alex and they had to leave. I taught Erik and Raven and they decided to leave.”

“Hank is still here, Charles. And I am still here.” She smiled. “Charles, Sean and Alex left before the government fails to find a peaceful solutionto conflict. That is not your fault. Erik left because you two have fundamentally different views. Raven left because sometimes people just need to leave their childhood home and find themselves. None of it is your fault.”

“I couldn’t protect Darwin and I couldn’t protect Sean and Alex. I can’t protect over 40 children when I couldn’t even save one of my students from dying and two of them from having to risk their lives.” Charles let his head fall into his hands. “Is this self-doubt not showing that I’m far from ready?”

“No, the self-doubt is showing me that you really care for your students, that you reflect on mistakes and that you are determined to not repeat them in the future.” Moira put a hand on his arm, rubbing it gently. “Charles, I’m your friend. Would you not believe me?”

“Moira, please leave.” He urged. “I need a bit longer.”

“Charles, these children need help.” Moira urged. “They are a danger to themselves and others. If anyone can help them, it’s you. You may not believe in yourself, but I believe in you, Hank believes in your, the parents of the children believe in you, Sean and Alex believed in you.”

“Yet Erik didn’t believe in me enough to be peaceful. I’m not as trustworthy as I seem. He didn’t even trust me enough to let me help him when he was bleeding out on Cuba.” Charles got up and started to pace the room.

“I get it now.” Moira muttered. “Erik left because that is what people do sometimes. Even people that love and trust you, leave. Charles, that is just what happens in life. You can’t let Erik control all your emotions and actions!”

“I am not!” Charles snapped back. “I need his help, Moira! I needed it then and I need it now, but he won’t hear me out! I can’t contact him or Raven and I can’t do this alone!”

“You aren’t alone!” The agent said angrily. “You have Hank, you have me and you have part of the CIA behind you. But of course, you wouldn’t care because your dear Erik isn’t here with you! What happened to your plans and ideas?”

Charles heaved a sigh and pointed at the door. “Leave.”

“You cannot be serious. I have been nothing but supportive but I cannot stand back and watch you throw away all that you got going for Erik!” Moira exclaimed. “He left you. You need to accept that.”

“Leave.” Charles repeated.

Moira huffed a breath and turned on her heel. “I expected more of you.” She said sadly and left. When she passed Hank, he tried to stop her but she merely walked past him and left.

When Hank tried to talk to Charles, the man shut him out.

\---

When another couple of weeks passed, Hank accepted that the school would never open. He had resigned himself to this idea and decided to dedicate his time to his scientific work instead of helping Charles set up the school -there was no point in that anymore.

Charles saw that Hank had given up on the idea of the school opening and it tore him apart. He really wanted to help those children but he feared that he couldn’t.

Darwin had died and he hadn't been able to save him. Alex and Sean were out there risking their lives and he couldn’t stop that. Raven had left him and he had not heard from her since. Erik was gone and he couldn’t reach him.

He rolled onto his side, letting his fingers skim along the edges of the wristwatch that had once belonged to Erik. He had not taken it with him. He had not taken anything with him. Charles smiled fondly as he remembered how impatiently Erik had always looked at the watch. He had done it during training to get Alex and Sean to hurry up. He had done it when Charles had taken to long to get ready during their trip to locate the mutants. He had done it when someone had spent too much time getting ready in the morning. He had done it so often that Charles started to associate the act of impatiently looking at one’s watch with Erik.

In fact, he had started to associate a great many things with Erik. The bed in his bedroom where they had slept was by far the most normal thing. Another thing was a fork that Erik had misshapen while Charles was eating to mess with him. When he had told Hank a few weeks ago, the man had seemed so worried.

Hank worried about him an awful lot. Once he had seen Charles wear what was unmistakenly Erik’s turtleneck and tried to talk to him about this ‘break-up’ as he called it but Charles had shut him down. Another time he had walked in on Charles staring at a picture of him and had tried to distract him but Charles had sent him away.

Now that he was thinking about it, he felt terrible. Hank just wanted to be there for him. Maybe he was right and it was time to talk about Erik and to try and leave him behind. He could still hold on to the hope that one day the metal bender would come back to him but he had to try and accept his absence for the greater good.

Moira had been right, too. When he was done talking to Hank, he would have to apologize to Moira. It would still take him a few weeks and maybe even a month or two to get the school set up but he had to keep going. Erik had been his world but he shouldn’t be. Because Charles was obviously not Erik’s world anymore.

Thus he made his way downstairs to see Hank. The man was busy, hunched over a book when Charles entered. He slowly snuck up to him and wrapped his arms around Hank’s neck. Hank flinched but didn’t pull away -he knew it was Charles.

“What do you need, Charles?” He asked gently, putting a hand on one of the arms that were wrapped around his shoulders.

Charles sighed softly. “I’m just feeling lonely and want some company, I suppose.” He whispered and looked over Hank’s shoulder. “What are you working on?”

“Charles, be honest with me. Why did you come down here?” Hank persisted.

“I need someone to talk to about Erik. I want to move on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, thank you for dealing with me re-uploading the series as a multi-chapter fiction. After this one, I'm done with the re-uploading and will upload new content. I hope you still enjoy it, enjoyed it so far and will do so in the future ^^  
> Next up: Erik.

**Author's Note:**

> Again, sorry if this is confusing. I will add all of the parts of the series as chapters, then I will probably delete the series later on (after informing everyone in the notes about what I'm doing) and continue it here.  
> Excuse my re-structuring but I thought it'd work better like this since it is a progressing story and the parts do connect.  
> Hope you enjoyed and continue to enjoy in the future ^^


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